Machine for making staples for mesh fabric



Jan. 19 1926.

' 1,570,198 R. H. BERKLEY 7 MACHINE FOR MAKING STAPLES FOR MESH FABRIC Filed July 13. 1923 K 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 &

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- I 'INVENTOR 5; ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 19, 1926.

UNITED STATES I 1,570,198 PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD H. BERKLEY, PLAINVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO 'WHITING 6' DAVIS COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING STAPLES FOR MESH FABRIC.

Application filed July 13, 1923. Serial No. 651,273.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, RICHARD H. BERKLEY, residing at Plainville, in the county of Norfolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Staples for Mesh Fabric; and I do hereby declare the follow ingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same. I

This invention relates 'to machines for making staples and has to do more specifically with a machine for making a plurality of staples in a single operation.

The staples which this machine is intended to produce are used in machines for making link mesh fabric, formed of a multiplicity ot links of hue wire interengaged so that each link passes through a plurality of other links of the mesh. In many of such machines there are one or two link forming devices into which the wire is fed and these devices cut a length of wire, bend it to form a staple,'insert the legs of the staple through a pair of links previously formed. then bend the ends of the staple to form a closed ring. This cycle of operations is repeated for each link that is added to the work, and the mesh production is necessarily slow.

In my co-pending application Ser. No. 651.271. filed July 13.19%, there is illustrated a machine operating on a somewhat different principle. in that there is provided a link-forming device which acts to add row of links to the piece of mesh, at each operation, rather than one or two single links. In such a machine, the wire is not cut and bentto form staples, but a supply of previously made staples is provided. This supply is in the form of a series of magazines. one for each of the link-forming dies. The magazines full of staples are in sci-ted in the machine which operates at each step to withdraw one staple from each magazine. insert the legs through the links of the preceding row of the mesh, and then close the staples by suitable dies to form the links.

staples rest on top of each other in vertical rows. The Wire is fed in a length sufiicient to form one staple for each magazine, is cut to smaller lengths for the staples, and a plunger mechanism then operates to bend the cut lengths to the desired form. Upon the retraction of the plungers, an ejector mechanism becomes operative to release the staples so that they may pass into the magazines provided. This cycle of operations is repeated until the magazines are device the cutter blocks and wire guides.

Fig- 6 is a plan view of one of the staple forming plungers with its ejector.

Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation, partly in section of the parts shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a detail of the cutting and staple forming mechanism.

In these drawings. the machine is shown mounted on a bed 9 suitably supported in any convenient way. Ateither end is an upright wall or support 10. on which is mounted an upper bed 11 carrying various 'parts of the mechanism. On the upper bed 11 is a block. 12 formed at either end with overhanging flanges 13 which form guideways for a movable block 14 which carries a series of wire bending plungers 15. Each of these plungers, which project laterally from the movable block is mounted in a recess 16 therein. and the end of the plunger which projects into the recess is somewhat enlarged. This enlarged end is longitudinallv slotted as at 17 and-a bolt 18 passing through this slot serves to hold the plunger therein and to permit of adjustments in its position. To secure a fine adjustment and also to hold the plungers against slipping. there is provided for each one. an adjustins screw 19. passing through a threaded aperture in the block 14 and bearing against the rear end of the plunger.

The block 12 has a longitudinal slot 20 formed in it and to the rear of this slot, the block has an upright portion 21 pro vided at either end with slotted extensions 22 which form guide-Ways for a block, vertically movable and carrying the ejector mechanism. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, the portion 21 has a series of die-slots 2?, formed in it, each slot being located and formed to co-operate with a plunger 15. At the rear end of each slot, the block 21 ha. a tapering bore 24, connnunicating with an aperture in the table 11. Resting on a bracket support 26 mounted on the under surfaces of the end walls 10, is a series of magazine tubes 2?, which project upwardly through apertures into bores 24. The upper end of each bore has a shoulder 28 formed in it, against which the upper end of the tube bears, the taper of the bore serving to center the tube when it is placed in position.

Mounted in a slot 29 in block 21 between each of the die-slots is adjustably mounted a cutter block 30 formed with a longitudinal slot 31, through which passes a bolt 32 mounted in the block 1 and serving to hold the cutter block in place in the slot. A adjusting screw 33 passing through the block 21. enters each slot 29 and. bearing against the rear face of the cutter block, serves to hold it in place and to adjust its position. when desired. Referring to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the working face 33 of each block has vertical flanges 34: on each side of it. These flanges have tapered guide slots in registry, and the taper of the slots is toward the center of the face, so that the wire 36 passing through them will be tightly held near the point where cutting is to take p ace.

The wire feeding device illustrated to the right in Fig. 2. and in Fig. 5 consists of a pair of grooved rolls 37 and 38 turning on horizontal axes in upright supports 39, i0. The shaft of the lower roll 38 is mounted in suitable fixed hearings in the supports. The shaft of the upper roll. however. is mounted in bearing blocks all, in slots 42 in the supports. The upper ends of these slots are closed by p ates 43. 4-4- and in each slot is a spring 45 hearing at one end against the plate and at the other against the block, so that the upper roll is held against the lower with a yielding pressure. On the shaft of each roll is a spur gear 46, 4-7 meshing with one another, and the shaft of the lower roll projects beyond the support 39, through a hearing 48 on table 11. On the end beyond the bearing 48 is a bevel gear 49, meshing with a similar gear 50 on a vertical shaft 51 mounted in a suitable bearing in the table 11, through which this shaft projects. At its lower end. the shaft 51 carries a bevel gear 52 meshing with a large bevel gear 53 on a shaft 54 mounted in brackets 55, 56 depending from the table 11. Between these brackets the shaft carries a loose spur gear 57, meshing with a similar gear 5e on the 11 win drive shaft mounted in hearings in the end walls 10. East on the shaft 54 adj acent the gear 57, is a ratchet wheel 60, and mounted on the gear 57 to overlie the ratchet wheel is a rocking pawl til, provided with a projecting stud 62 which rides over a cam surface 63, shown as being formed integralat The construction is ear 5'? rotates, the stud holds the pa ti out of engagement with the ratchet teeth u'zu'ing half a revolution, but during the other hal the pawl drops down, locks th ratchet and gear and accordingly rotates the shaft )4, The result is that the siaft 5i has an intermittent movement and, when being driven, it drives the feed rolls 37, 3? through the connections described to feed a length of wire by their frictional engagement. The speed of the shaft 54 is stepped up, as shown, so that the rolls will draw wire from a source of supply (not ly with the brace such that as the shown) and advance this wire through the guides formed in the cutter blocks, the end of the wire entering a slot in a stop lug 64 on the block 21, adjacent the last die slot. Then the feed stops by reason of the cam having released the pawl from the ratchet and during the period of rest, the various other operations incidental to the staple forming occur.

The cutting of the length of wire into shorter lengths according to the size of each indiridual staple is carried on by a plurality of spaced cutting knives 65, removably mounted in the ends of arms 66 mounted 011 a reel: shaft 67 which is carried by bearings 68, (39 on table 11. The shaft lies in the slot 20 in the block 12 and the arms project upwardly from it. Fast on one end of the rock shaft is an arm 70 formed with a slot in its end into which projects a pin 7] on an upright rod. i2, which projects through an aperture in the table 11 and which is pro vided with a roller 73 at its lower end running on the surface of cam 74 on the drive shaft 5.). A spring 75 encircling this rod bears against the lower surface of the table and a shoulder 76 formed on the rod, this spring tending to keep the rod in its lowermost position. When the wire has been fed through the cutter block guides to the stop lug (4, the feeding n'lechanism stops. The cam 74; then moves the rod 72 upwardly. rocking the shaft 67 to move the knives against their cutting blocks, so as to sever the wire into a number of short lengths corresponding to the size of the links. The severed lengths are then supported in the guide slots 35 until the plungers engage the engths which occurs immediately after the severing operation.

This movement of the plunger block 14 is brought about by a pair of cams 7 7 located on the drive shaft 59 near either end of the table l1.

Pivotally mounted in abracket '80 on the table 11 above each cam '77 is an arm 79 which has a cam roller 7 8 in its lower end, running on its cam '77. The upper endof the arm 79 is slotted and through this slot is a pin 81 in the end of an arm 82, mounted in the front face of the block let. A spring 88 attached to the rod 79 and to a post 8& on the under surface of the table 11 tends to keep the roller 78 against the cam face. With this arrangement of parts, the action is as follows: when the cutting knives are about to sever the wire, the block 14: is moving forward so that at 'or about the instant of severance the plungers 15 strike the wire, the action of the cams with their associated parts now causes the wire to be cut and the continued forward movement of the block 14 forces the plungers forward into the die slots 23, carrying the wire with them and bending it between the ends of the plungers and thefaces of the slots to the form shown in Fig. 6 at 85. The staples are now formed and the plungers retracted by the return movement of the block 14. Owing to the manner in which they are made, however, the staples would ordinarily be carried back with the plungers. They are prevented from doing so" by the ejector mechanism which releases each staple from its plunger and permits itto drop in a magazine.

The ejecting mechanism consists of the block 86 which extends along the block 21 and has tongues 87 at either end entering slots in the extensions 22 projecting upwardly from the block 21. Resting on the face of the block 21 at either end are coil springs 88, 88 which tend to keep the block 86 in its raised position. Mounted adjustably on the front face of the block 86' is another block 89, secured thereto at either end by bolts 90 passing through vertical slots 91 and entering the block 86. From the under side of this adjustably mounted block, projects a series of plungers 92, each of which is provided at its lower end with a pair-of projecting teeth. Each plunger is located over a die-slot 23 and the teeth on the plunger are so made and disposed that they may enter the spaces between the sides of the plunger and the die-slot. as shown in Fig. 6. As will be clear from Fig. 7, the

teeth are disposed toward the open end of the slot so that they will pass beyond the legs of the staple in its innermost position, the curved edge 93 of the teeth insuring that this action will take place. The block 86 is provided on its under side with apin 95 in a yoke 96 and mounted on the pin is a lever 97 pivotally connected to another lever 98 which is mounted to rock in the end of an arm 99 depending from the under side of the table 11. In the end of the arm 98 is a roller 100 riding'on a cam 101 on drive shaft 59 and this cam acting through the linkage described serves to lower the block 86 at the proper time, the springs 88 restoring the block to its uppermost position. 7

The action of the ejector mechanism is as follows: when the plungers have forced the short lengths of wire into the die-slots as shown in Fig. 6, the bending of the wires tends to' cause them to cling to the ends of the plunger so that upon the retraction of the plungers the staples formed would not be cleared. When the plungers have reached. the innermost position, however, the -block 86 is lowered so that the teeth enter each die-slot and lie between the mouth of the slot and the ends of the staple. plungers move back, the staple strikes the teeth, is released from the plunger and the end of the plunger 92 forces the staple from the slot, through the aperture 24 into the magazine tube. The ejector block then rises out of the way, another length of wire-is fed. cut and forced into the die-slots and again cleared from the ends'of the plungers by, the ejector teeth. k

The operation of the machine as a whole will be clear from the description of the several groups of mechanism. Devices are provided for feeding wire, for severing it into staple lengths, for forming the staples and for ejecting the formed staples from the forming devices, and each'of these mechanisms is co-ordinated in action by proper cam design, sothatthe several operations take place simultaneously, or in sequence. as the case may be so that staple production is carried on with the greatest efficiency. There is no limit to the number of staples that maybe made in a single cycle of operations, though practical considerations will determine the output to a large extent. The staples madeare all of the same size which depends on the spacing and form of the dieslots. There is no difliculty however in varying the parts to form links of any desired size.

With a supply of wire in place, the machine is driven by power transmitted to the drive shaft 59 through the pulley 102. Staples are then continuously formed and loaded into the magazines until the latter are full, when the machine is stopped, the full. magazines removed and empty ones placed in position. The full magazines are then taken to the mesh machines and the staples used to form link mesh of the usual form. V

I claim:

1. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric. which comprises the combination of wire feeding means means for cutting thelwire so fed into When the ill) a plurality of staple lengths, co-acting means operating in a plane for forming the severed lengths into staples, and means operating at an angle to the plane in which the said coacting means operate for ejecting the formed staples from the forming means.

2. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, comprising means for intermittently feeding wire, a lurality of knives for cutting the wire fed into staple lengths, a co-acting plunger and die operable to form each severed length into a staple and means for ejecting the staple from the forming means.

3. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, comprising means for feeding wire, a plurality of knives simultaneously operable for cutting the wire fed into staple lengths, a plurality of dies, a plunger for each die, means for actuating the plungers to carry the severed lengths of wire into the dies to form the staples and ejector devices for removing the formed staples from the forming means.

4-. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, comprising means for feeding wire, means for cutting the wire fed into staple lengths, a stationary block having a plurality of dieslots therein, a movable block having a plurality of adjustably mounted plungers thereon disposed in registry with the dieslots, means for moving the second block to cause the plungers to force the severed lengths into the die-slots to form the staples, and means, operable during the return movement of the second block, for ejecting the staples from the die-slots.

5. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, comprising means for feeding wire, means for cutting the wire fed into staple lengths, a co-acting plunger and die operable to form each severed length into a staple, a magazine communicating with each die, and means for ejecting the formed staples into the magazines.

6. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, comprising means for feeding wire, means for cutting the wire fed into staple lengths, a stationary block formed with a plurality of die slots, a movable block having adj ustahly mounted thereon, a plurality of plungers in registry with these slots, a second movable block having ejector devices thereon in registry with the die-slots, and means for 1nov ing the first movable block to form the severed lengths of wire into staples in the slots and the second block to eject the formed staples from the slots.

7. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, comprising means for feeding wire, means for cutting the wire fed into staple lengths, a stationary block formed with a plurality of die-slots and apertures communicating with these slots, a plurality of magazines in reg istry with the apertures, a movable plunger co-acting with each die-slot to form each severed length of wire into a staple, and a device for each slot operable to eject the formed staples into the magazines.

8. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, com prising means for feeding wire, a plurality of cutter blocks, a knife co-acting with each cutter block to sever the wire fed into sta' ple lengths, a plurality of die-slots and movable plungers forcing the severed lengths of wire into the die slots to form staples.

9. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, comprising means for feeding wire, a plurality of cutter blocks provided with Wire guides, a knife co-acting with each cutter block between the guides to sever the wire fed into staple lengths, a plurality of die-slots and movable plungers for forcing the severed lengths of wire into the die-slots to form staples.

10. A. machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, comprising a plurality of adjustably mounted cutter blocks provided with wire guides, means for feeding wire through the guides, a knife co-acting with each block to sever the wire into staple lengths, a die-slot to receive each severed length, a movable plunger to force each length into a die-slot to form a staple and a device for ejecting the formed staples from each slot.

11. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, comprising a pair of rolls intermittently oper able to feed a length of wire, a plurality of co-acting cutter blocks and knives operable to cut the wire into staple lengths, a plurality of die-slots and plungers co-operating to form the severed lengths into staples, and ejector devices for removing the formed staples from the die-slots.

12. In a machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, the combination of a dieslot, a plunger reciprocable into the slot to bend a piece of wire to staple, form, and an ejecting device movable into the slot before the plungcr has been withdrawn therefrom and operating to clear the formed staple from the end of the plunger and to eject the staple from the slot.

13. In a machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, the combination of means for feeding a length of wire, a plurality of cutter blocks, wire guides on either side of each cutter look through which the wire is fed, knives cooperating with the cutter blocks to sever the wire fed into a plurality of lengths supported by the Wire guides, and co-acting means disposed between the cutter blocks for forming the severed lengths of Wire'into staples.

14. In a machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric, the combination of means for feeding a length of wire, a plurality of cutter blocks, Wire guides on either side of each cutter block through which the wire is fed, knives cooperating with the cutter blocks to sever the wire fed into a plurality of lengths supported by the Wire guides, co-acting means disposed between the cutter blocks for forming the severed lengths of wire'into staples, and ejecting devices disposed between the cutter blocks for removing the formed staples from the co-acting means.

15. In a machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric a pair of rolls intermittently operable to feed a length of Wire, a stationary block having a cutter block adjustably mounted thereon, guides on the cutter block for guiding and supporting the wire fed, a knife operable to sever the wire between. the guides, a die-slot in the stationary block adjacent the cutter block, a movable block having a plunger adjustably mounted thereon to co-act with the die-slot to form the severed length into a staple, and a second movable block having adjustably mounted thereon an ejector device for removing the formed staple from the die-slot.

' 16. In a machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric the combination with a co-operating plunger and die-slot for forming a length of Wire into a staple, of an ejector device comprising a plunger movable into the die-slot and ,a pair of teeth projecting from the end thereof and formed to enter the die-slot on either side of staple-forming plunger.

17. A machine for making staples for use in the production of link mesh fabric a pair of rolls intermittently operable to feed a length of Wire, a stationary block having a plurality of cutter blocks adjustably mounted thereon, a plurality of knives cooperating with the cutter blocks to sever the Wire fed into staple lengths, a plurality of die-slots formed in the stationary block, a movable block having a plurality of plungers co-operating with these die-slots to form the severed lengths of wire into staples, a second movable block carrying a plurality of ejector plungers operable to enter the die slots for ejecting the formed staples therefrom and means for operating the rolls and the knives and for moving the movable blocks in their proper time relations.

In testimon whereof I affix my signature.

IGHARD H. BERKLEY. 

